


POLITICAL PAPERS 



. 'I 



I. THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

II. THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 



BY 



THEODORE MARBURG. 



Reprinted from The Baltimore American. 



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BALTIMORE: 

JOHN MURPHY & CO 
1898. 



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POLITICAL PAPERS 



I. THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 
II. THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 



BY 



THEODORE MARBURG. 



Reprinted from The Baltimore American. 



BALTIMORE : 

JOHN MURPHY & CO, 
1898. 



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Army & Navy Oiab 
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I. 

THE ¥AE WITH SPAIN. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

I. Intervention — The Law and the Prac- 
tice — America Must Act Alone, - 5 

II. Oppression Flagrant and Persistent — 
Ultimate Destiny of Cuba — Just 
Retribution for Spain, - - - 14 

III. Right of Higher Civilization, - - 19 

IV. Wisdom of Our Course, 21 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 1 

[May 1, 2, 8, 1898.] 



I. 

Intervention — The Law and the Practice — 
America Must Act Alone. 

r "THE past few months have witnessed a con- 
flict of emotions in the breast of the people. 
A traditional policy and a wholesome horror of 
war have been drawing them in one direction, 
whilst indignation at inhuman acts impelled 
them in another. Those who felt the justice of 
America's position and at the same time valued 
the President's noble attempt to enforce that 
position without resort to war, realized that to 

1 Copyright, 1898, by Theodore Marburg. 

5 



6 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

give utterance to their thoughts could only 
serve to encourage the war spirit and further 
hamper the President. Now that war has be- 
gun, it is important to examine candidly the 
principles involved. 

The assertion most commonly heard is that 
we have no right to interfere in the internal 
affairs of another nation. 

A fundamental rule of international law is 
that the independence of a state must be re- 
spected. Its laws must be presumed to be fit 
and their execution just, and the state must be 
allowed to accomplish the fulfillment of its own 
destiny free from outside interference. 

Few writers on international law have failed, 
however, to recognize exceptions to this rule, 
and some of the greatest among them include 
among these exceptions interference on grounds 
of humanity. 

Hefter recognizes it, and Vattel says, 
" If the prince, by attacking the fundamental 
laws of the country, gives his people legitimate 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 7 

ground for resistance, if tyranny becomes in- 
supportable and rouses the nation to rebellion, 
any power has a right to succor the oppressed 
people if they solicit its aid." 

Prof. Arntz is of the opinion that interfer- 
ence is justified "when a government, even 
though acting quite within the limits of its 
sovereignty, violates the laws of humanity, 
either by measures hostile to the interests of 
other states, or by excessive injustice or cruelty 
which seriously attack our morals and our 
civilization." 

"The right of intervention must be recog- 
nized because no matter how much the rights 
of sovereignty and of independence are to be 
respected, there is one thing even more entitled 
to respect and that is the right of humanity 
and of human society, which must not be 
outraged." 

Woolsey asserts that interference is justified 
when crimes are committed by a government 
against its subjects. 



8 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

Acceptance of such a principle may, of course, 
lead to abuses, but Calvo very properly re- 
marks that a principle must be judged by its 
logical and common results, and not by pos- 
sible abuses to which it may lead. 

Hall states " that interference for the pur- 
pose of checking gross tyranny or for helping 
the efforts of a people to free itself is very 
commonly regarded without disfavor." 

These opinions are cited not to prove that 
intervention on grounds of humanity is author- 
ized by international law; many writers, among 
them a majority of the Italian school, reject it. 
The opinions are cited simply to show that the 
question is, at least, an open one. A just 
estimate would probably be that international 
law has not yet been developed to a sufficient 
extent to cover all cases of international action 
and that, furthermore, it has its natural and 
inherent limitations due to the fact that it 
la<ks a punitive sanction. 

Behind the law within the state are the police 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 9 

and the whole military power of the state. 
Behind international law there is nothing to 
enforce its decrees except war. In intervening 
in behalf of an oppressed people the state is 
probably no longer moving in the sphere of 
international law, but must justify its acts by 
an appeal to the common interests of humanity 
or high state policy. 

There are but few occasions which justify 
the individual in violating the wonderful and 
comprehensive system of law prevailing within 
the state. There are many occasions when 
the people acting in their national capacity 
must step outside the limits of the circum- 
scribed body of rules called international 
law. 

If respect for international law had proved 
the ruling influence with her government, 
France would not have aided America, and 
the accomplishment of American liberty would 
have been postponed, if not actually defeated. 

If in 1827 the powers had obeyed the in- 



10 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

junctions of international law, Greece would 
not have been freed. 

If in 1859 Louis Napoleon had felt that the 
observance of international law was the highest 
duty of the state, he would not have marched 
into Italy to drive out the Austrian and bring 
to a successful issue the noble aspirations of 
Cavour and Victor Emmanuel for Italy's unity 
and independence. 

Actual practice shows numerous instances of 
interference in the internal affairs of a nation. 
The idea prevailing in former times that the 
stranger was an enemy has been rapidly break- 
ing down under the strides of commerce, travel 
and frequent communication, and the tendency 
to find kinship amongst men has as steadily 
grown. We no longer look with unconcern on 
acts of oppression, no matter what the blood, 
nationality or religion of the oppressed people 
may be. 

Most intervention has been founded on policy, 
but occasionally it bears the stamp of disinter- 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 11 

ested action. This is largely true, for example, 
of the episode of Navarino, an event of the 
Grecian struggle for independence already re- 
ferred to. The barbarity with which the Turk 
conducted the war, pillaging, murdering and 
carrying off the Greeks into slavery, aroused 
Europe. England, France and Russia sent 
ships to patrol the Grecian islands and coast to 
prevent this, and a collision with the Turkish 
fleet, in October, 1827, resulted in the annihila- 
tion of the latter. Greece had then belonged 
to Turkey for nearly four centuries, the occu- 
pation of the Morea by Venice for a time 
excepted, so that this act was armed inter- 
vention in the internal affairs of Turkey. The 
grounds on which it was justified were : 
humanity, request of one of the parties, and 
the propriety of putting a stop to piracy and 
anarchy. 

It differs from our intervention in Cuba in 
that it was the joint act of several European 
powers, but in this connection there is this to 



12 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

be considered. A little over two vears ago we 
flung at the head of the world's great colonizer 
and civilizer a missive which told her that we 
were the arbiters on this continent, and that a 
policy born of the necessities of our early days 
was still adhered to. That policy forbids a 
European nation to interfere outside the sphere 
of her own possessions here (are not our own 
obligations all the heavier on this account?) 
and it would likewise make it difficult for us 
to invite any European nation to co-operate 
in the present armed intervention. 

The desire to act more in conformance with 
the practice of nations with respect to inter- 
vention might next lead us to seek the co- 
operation of some of the American countries. 

When European governments co-operate, it 
means the co-operation of equals. An alliance 
of the United States with any other American 
government or group of governments would 
not be such. Without any desire to disparage 
other American countries, it may be safely 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 13 

asserted that our power is so preponderant 
here, there are so many ways in which we 
could secure allies and influence their action, 
that the moral force of such an alliance would 
be lacking. Co-operation with other American 
powers would be more or less empty form, a 
simple reflection of European methods without 
their significance. It is, then, fitting that with 
respect to foreign questions generally we should 
act alone. 

In the solution of this particular question, 
what American countries are there whose co- 
operation we might hope to secure? Canada 
is not an independent American government, 
whilst the balance of the powers in the western 
world, with the exception of the few settle- 
ments in the Guianas, are of Spanish and Por- 
tuguese origin, and could hardly be counted 
upon to co-operate with us in actual war 
against the mother country and a closely 
affiliated country. Logically, then, it is the 
United States alone that can intervene in Cuba. 



14 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

II. 

Oppression Flagrant and Pe? % sistent — Ultimate 

Destiny of Cuba — Just Retribution 

for Spain. 

It remains to consider whether intervention 
at this time is justified. The oppression which 
warrants intervention in the internal affairs 
of a state should be flagrant and persistent. 
Many people in America and elsewhere believe 
that the violation of the laws of humanity and 
justice has been flagrant and persistent in Cuba. 
There has been not one revolution nor short- 
lived oppression which we might patiently 
wait for Spain to correct, but continuous op- 
pression for the greater part of the present 
century and repeated protests in the form of 
rebellion put down in a bloody manner. 

The century is drawing to a close, and we 
see the sense of injustice and oppression in the 
Cuban as keen as ever and an attempt on the 
part of Spain to reassert its authority the most 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 15 

bloody and disastrous of all in the history of 
the island. 

Whilst England has lost only one of her 
colonies, and great regions of the world are 
to-day content to remain under her flag, Spain 
has lost all the colonies that were strong 
enough to resist her power. A few islands, 
readily accessible and easily overrun with 
troops, are all that remain of her former mag- 
nificent colonial empire. Her unjust govern- 
ment, plunder of the people by officials, and 
over-taxation for the benefit of the home 
country have done this. This fact alone con- 
stitutes a serious arraignment of Spain's atti- 
tude in the modern world. 

Cuba is so close to our shores that the long- 
story of its wrongs has been forced upon our 
attention. The cry of distress which has gone 
up from the island so often during the century 
has more than once aroused the sympathy of 
our people. We have, indeed, been patient. 
If the Spanish character were different, if we 



16 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

could be led to believe that Spain would be 
just to Cuba in the future, we might, even at 
this late day, have refrained from armed inter- 
vention, but such hope is belied by the history 
of the island during the century. 

The vital consideration is that the most 
liberal government which the Spaniard could 
grant the Cuban would not bring with it a 
permanent solution of the Cuban question. It 
is generally admitted that with her present 
population Cuba is unfit for self-government. 
This means that she must be governed from 
outside, and if she remains under the Spanish 
flag, it means that after an attempt at autonomy 
the cruel and greedy hand of Spain will again 
be found at her throat and in her pocket. 
That which we have just witnessed is, then, 
to be repeated. The American people have 
arrived at the just conclusion that no per- 
manent solution of the Cuban question can be 
reached without turning out the Spaniard, and 
they feel that it is time to act. Few deceive 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 17 

themselves as to the ultimate destiny of Cuba. 
When we turn the present government out, 
the logic of events will briug us the island. 
We of course propose to let the inhabitants 
decide for themselves and try to work out their 
own destiny, but every thing points to the 
conclusion that the insecurity of life and prop- 
erty under self-government will in time lead 
them to apply for admission to the Union. 
Once under stable and just rule, immigration 
there from Anglo-Saxon countries should ulti- 
mately give a sufficient basis for sound local 
government. 

If the unhappy island can realize in no other 
way the very reasonable wish for enlightened 
and humane government in this advanced age, 
is not our course proper? The world knows 
very well that it was not the desire to add 
Cuba to our territory which led to war, but 
if the Cuban question can be solved in no 
other way than by action which will ultimately 
bring the island to us, we should not hesitate 
2 



18 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

to assume the full responsibility of such action. 
It is best to face such an issue squarely and 
frankly. If we are right, it matters not 
whether certain of the Powers approve of our 
course or not; the situation at home is too 
delicate for them to do more than enter a 
diplomatic protest. It will be difficult to col- 
lect an indemnity from a country already 
bankrupt, and the war, which the dictates of 
humanity have led us to undertake, will cost 
us a round sum, so that we cannot be charged 
with acquiring the island gratuitously. 

As for Spain, leave out of consideration all 
previous rebellions in Cuba, even all her other 
deeds in the present campaign of three years, 
and consider the sole fact of her having penned 
up several hundred thousand non-combatants, 
preventing them from earning a living, and 
then failing to supply them with the necessaries 
of life until one-half of the whole number 
perished. Is not the loss of Cuba a just retri- 
bution for such an act ? 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 19 

III. 

Right of Higher Civilization. 

Another important consideration is that of 
the higher civilization supplanting the lower. 

When the white man came to America there 
were about 500,000 Indians in what now con- 
stitutes the United States. To-day there still 
remain 225,000. We have then brushed aside 
275,000 Indians, and in place of them have 
this population of 70,000,000 of what we re- 
gard as the highest type of modern man. The 
fact that the Indian, who was tolerably prolific, 
did not number more than 500,000 after all 
the centuries he must have lived here, indicates 
a formidable struggle against nature, a struggle 
against cold, famine, disease and loss of life 
through internecine war ; in other words, a 
great sum of human misery which we have 
been quite justified in brushing aside and sup- 
planting with the peace and comparative con- 
tentment and high pursuits which prevail over 
the continent. 



20 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

The question presented by Cuba differs only 
in degree. The Spaniard and his American 
descendant are very much the same people they 
were several centuries -ago. What are the Span- 
ish countries of South America, what is Spain 
itself doing in all the walks of life which make 
for progress? In previous centuries Spain has 
done a splendid and useful work in the western 
world, but she has failed to keep abreast of the 
world in moral and intellectual progress, and 
must pay the penalty. The principle that the 
higher civilization is justified in supplanting 
the lower is a dangerous one to admit, because 
of every nation regarding its own type as the 
highest, but there are certain broad facts which 
must force the impartial observer to admit the 
superiority of our own race, the Anglo-Saxon, 
in the qualities that contribute to human 
advance. At any rate, we hold to the opinion 
that we have done more than any other race to 
conquer the world for civilization in the past 
few centuries, and we will probably go on hold- 
ing to this opinion and go on with our conquests. 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 21 

If we believe that there is a distinct pur- 
pose in all that is about us and in our own 
presence here, we cannot escape the conclusion 
that man's express duty is the uplifting of 
man. The duty to improve and elevate him- 
self and his fellows thus becomes an end in 
itself and a justification of life. Every rational 
human being, no matter how humble his station 
in life, has the power to help or hinder this 
process. He is influenced principally by his 
environment, made up of the national character 
and tendencies, and a nation in its collective 
capacity directs the process. Any nation which 
blocks the way of human progress must expect 
to be brushed aside by more powerful and 
vigorous blood. 

IV. 

Wisdom of Our Course. 

Is the step we have taken wise? 
The first concern of a government is the 
welfare of its own people, and if these people 



22 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

are an enlightened, a moral, and a progressive 
people, the world's work is best furthered by 
their healthy growth. If intervention in Cuba 
will seriously interfere with such growth here, 
it must be condemned. 

When the Louisiana territory, extending to 
the headwaters of the Mississippi and west to 
the Rocky Mountains, was acquired in 1803, 
few could foresee the portentous consequences 
of the act. It is now apparent that without it 
we would not have seized what then became a 
contiguous territory, California, nor made a 
successful claim to Oregon, and unless all this 
had been acquired we would have been con- 
fronted with the possibility of a rival power 
on the Continent, involving a standing army, 
extensive lines of fortification, and an occa- 
sional war. 

The electric telegraph and steam navigation, 
the handmaids of foreign trade, are of such 
recent origin (within the memory of living 
men), that trade between the nations must be 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 23 

in its infancy. If this is so, the future will 
witness a great development of wealth along 
the seacoast, important cities, expensive harbors, 
and approaches, and with them a growth in 
naval power. The possession of the West 
Indies may then acquire an importance re- 
sembling that of the Louisiana Territory. 

Presuming that our institutions are lasting, 
the position of power which the future will 
bring, must, some day draw the West Indies to 
us. We must expect a renewal of the forward 
movement which led to our overrunning and 
acquiring Texas. The planting of its outposts 
in a constantly widening circle on the part of 
a vigorous and healthy race, is one of the most 
familiar processes of history. Such a matter 
need give the living generation but little con- 
cern as time is an element in working out such 
questions. When the movement of races or the 
history of nations is under consideration, a 
century or so is a short period ; but to acquire 
the largest and richest of the Indies now may 



24 THE WAR WITH SPAIX. 

make our inevitable task lighter in the future. 
When we have owned Cuba for half a century 
it will be a simpler matter to persuade some 
European government, particularly if it is seek- 
ing our moral or active support at the moment, 
to release or sell to us some other of the islands. 

Our first President laid down for us a policy 
of non-interference and freedom from alliances 
in Europe. Soon afterward came the enunci- 
ation of the Monroe Doctrine which meant 
that we regarded the growth of European 
influence on this continent as a menace to our 
liberties. In our weakness we could not afford 
to meddle in the disputes of Europe and could 
not afford to have a European government 
constitute itself a too powerful neighbor on 
our own continent. This policy was next ex- 
tended to include non-intervention by us in the 
affairs of American countries as well. 

We have here a creditable perception of the 
needs of the young state. But that state ex- 
pands in territory, in numbers, in knowledge, 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 25 

and in wealth, and that which was fitting in its 
youth and unripeness, hampers and dwarfs and 
stifles it in its manhood. Itself subject to the 
belittling influence of a discussion revolving in 
a narrow circle around the tariff and finance, 
it beholds kindred races playing such part 
in the world's affairs that questions from all 
quarters of the globe are daily knocking at 
their doors for solution ; it recognizes the in- 
spiring influence of such larger part; the spirit 
and moral motive and power are there, and 
the nation presently moves to its proper place 
among its fellows. 

Only overcrowded countries can colonize 
successfully. Others send their merchants 
abroad, but these are not true colonizers 
because only numbers and the men who labor 
with their hands can colonize. The self-seek- 
ing of the colonist has spread civilization, and 
nothing but self-seeking will carry on this 
work. America, which is not in a position to 
colonize at a distance, cannot at present take 



26 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

part in the work, but it can throw its influence 
in favor of the best races engaged in it. It 
can play another role, too, an important and 
noble one, and play it the more successfully 
because it is not under any pressure to acquire 
territory at a distance, and its action will, 
therefore, be recognized as disinterested. It 
is the role of the arbiter who proclaims that 
justice shall be done, and who is powerful 
enough to see that justice is done. May it not 
happen that we can throw our weight on the 
side of justice abroad without interfering with 
home progress? Might not such a course 
even serve to distinctly further home progress? 
A great fillip would be given the national 
spirit through awakening the higher instincts 
of the people and fostering a sense of unity 
of purpose and proper national pride. No 
one denies that these were tremendous quick- 
ening factors in Germany after the Franco- 
Prussian war, starting her on her career of 
prosperity and power. 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 27 

Such things afford a striking example of 
how that which is regarded as unreal and 
intangible may become of the highest practical 
value. Local questions which are so slow of 
solution now might find a solution in the new 
attitude of the public mind. If it succeeded in 
bringing a different class of men into politics 
the splendid machinery of our government 
would be made to show what it can do. There 
is evidence in many directions that, whilst we 
have made such marked progress in intelligence 
and wealth, the moral sense of the people has 
grown, too. If our politics are debased, it is 
not because the mass of the people are debased. 
In the course of the world's history it has 
generally been the minority that has ruled. 
When history was great, it was a minority of 
great men who made it. When an age appears 
degenerate, it is often because a minority of 
inferior men rule it, the majority remaining 
apathetic. A minority of the unscrupulous and 
active may govern a majority of honest and 



28 THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

indifferent. Under American institutions elec- 
tive bodies should really represent the best that 
is in the community. They ought, at least, to 
represent something above the average. What 
often actually takes place is that they do not 
even represent the average, but represent a 
minority of the worst. The reference above is 
to the solution of questions such as this. 

In the next place, the gain in diplomatic 
prestige, which would follow such participation 
in the world's affairs, would help the country's 
commerce. Growth of political power is usu- 
ally followed by a sharp rise in commercial 
importance. 

In other words, whilst a moral and a pro- 
gressive nation serves the world best by 
regarding its own interests first, and thus 
strengthening and developing itself, the field 
of an enlightened self-interest is wide enough 
to include discreet action abroad in the interest 
of humanity. 

We have abundance of land and a condition 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 29 

of politics within the country which pronounces 
against any further extension of territory until 
certain pressing questions are solved. The 
mass of the people will recognize this as the 
proper policy to be pursued under ordinary 
circumstances, but it will not prevent them 
from dealing like men with an exceptional 
condition. 

In brief: Spanish rule in Cuba has caused 
much human misery to which it is the duty of 
the United States to put a stop ; this can only 
be done by her ultimately acquiring the island 
since no other solution of the question would 
be permanent ; the loss of the island to Spain 
is but a just retribution for inhuman acts; its 
ultimate acquisition by the United States may 
be an act of high state policy. 



II. 

THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

[Reprinted from Baltimore American of Dec. 22, 1895.] 



* War and the Military System. 

\ I J HEN the cause of justice calls for war, 
commercial interests should never be 
allowed to block the way. Aside from the 
question of national honor, there are many 
compensations in war. The armaments of 
Europe are often spoken of as a deadly weight 
upon the energies of the respective European 
countries. It is pointed out that the men are 
taken from their callings for service in the 
army in the best years of their life, the infer- 
ence being that they lose a knowledge of their 
trade or profession, and lose the taste for work. 
3 33 



34 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

In the face of this we see Germany, which 
has brought its military system to the highest 
scientific perfection, rapidly becoming one of the 
great commercial and manufacturing nations 
of the world. Italy, also, has undoubtedly 
benefitted by her military system. One ex- 
planation of this apparent contradiction is that 
men are brought together from different sections 
of the country, acquire new tastes and ideas, 
and are impressed with the benefits of organi- 
zation and the necessity for order and obedience. 
The country lad, who ordinarily would have 
no ideas above his plow and the routine of 
farmwork, becomes a broader man, and at the 
end of his military service is a more useful 
citizen. 

Adequate strife of one kind and another, in 
the present order of nature and throughout 
nature, means progress. A few years ago 
Bluntschli, who presided at the Congress of 
International Law in Oxford, sent to Yon 
Moltke a copy of the regulations which had 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 35 

been drawn up by the congress for the conduct 
of armies in time of war, their express object 
being to lessen the hardships of war. In his 
reply, Von Moltke said that he could express 
but little sympathy with the movement. 

He believed in war, not only as a necessity at 
times, but in war for its own sake. He main- 
tained that without it the nations would de- 
generate into money-loving and selfish people ; 
that war brought out the nobler traits in men, 
and that to be ready to lay down one's life for 
his country was an ultimate test of manhood. 

Again, we are forced to recognize the benefits 
of a successful war. Of these the most im- 
portant relate to the political life of the nation, 
internal as well as external. But when the 
spirit of a healthy people is aroused by a 
stirring national event the results are not 
solely political. Such an event permeates the 
whole world of mind and produces definite 
results in industry as well. What explains the 
surprising repair of waste often witnessed is 



36 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

that the greatest factors in production are the 
character and trained habits of the people. 
These remain, even much of the machinery of 
production remains, after the most devastating 
war. The people and machinery can produce 
much more than they are ordinarily called 
upon to produce. When, therefore, the eco- 
nomic void which the waste of war has created 
sets all the people and all the machinery at 
work there follows a period of unusual pros- 
perity, the effects of which are cumulative and 
lead to real development. 

German unity with all its results for Ger- 
many, and for the world, could probably not 
have been attained in any other way than by a 
great war. It is likewise difficult to see how, 
without the frightful drama of the Civil War, 
America could have liberated the slave and 
demonstrated to the world that the Union was 
a thing of permanence and meant to fulfill the 
great destinies mapped out for it by the framers 
of its wonderful constitution. It has never 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 37 

known such a period of prosperity as that 
which followed the Civil War. 

This is one side of the picture; the other 
has been too vividly painted by the brush of 
experience, and is too deeply burned in the 
hearts and brains of Americans to need de- 
scription. By common consent, the dictates of 
humanity, and a sense of the awful suffering 
that accompanies war, clearly enjoin the avoid- 
ance of an unjust war. The true strength and 
manhood of an individual and of a nation are 
shown by their asserting their power only 
when a just occasion calls it forth. Is there 
such an occasion now in the controversy with 
England? 

The Monroe Doctrine. 

Our own authorities tell us that, from a 
standpoint of international law, we have nothing 
to stand upon. What we are about to do is to 
endeavor to insert into the international code 
a principle for which we have at times con- 



38 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

tended, but which has never yet been recog- 
nized. Is the principle justly interpreted by 
Secretary Olney ? And were this so, is the 
present occasion a fitting one upon which to 
introduce it? And is the nation, to whom we 
are allied so strongly by ties of blood and 
tradition, the proper one upon which to make 
war in order to establish the principle? 

In the minds of those who enunciated it, 
the Monroe doctrine clearly meant that no 
European government should be allowed to 
overturn the liberal governments of the west- 
ern world in order to substitute for them a 
monarchical government, nor to seize upon 
territory there for purposes of colonization. 
Secretary Olney has so enlarged the scope of 
the doctrine that it embraces any territorial 
dispute between an Americm power and a 
European power. This is admittedly true, 
because he specifically disclaims any knowledge 
of the merits of this particular controversy. 
His language is : " It is not admitted, how- 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 39 

ever, and, therefore, cannot be assumed, that 
Great Britain is in fact usurping dominion 
over Venezuelan territory." 

England's Attitude Toward Arbitration. 

Great Britain admits that the real owner- 
ship of a portion of the territory is open to 
question ; with respect to this portion she is 
ready to submit to arbitration. In addition 
to this, however, Venezuela claims territory 
which Great Britain asserts to be hers abso- 
lutely, and which has been settled by her 
people. Because of her aggressive policy,which 
has really resulted in settling large regions of 
the globe with a religious and a moral people, 
and a people with traditions of political liberty, 
she has but few friends amongst the nations, 
and experience has taught her that she cannot 
rely upon arbitration for fair decision of dis- 
putes to which she is a party. She is in the 
position of a man, who, in a hostile land, has 
had brought against him a claim for the pos- 



40 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

session of property which he feels to be rightly 
his and his children's, and is asked to submit 
the claim to the judgment of a biased tribunal. 
However much the members of an international 
tribunal may be bent upon absolute fairness, 
it cannot be denied that national prejudice will 
unconsciously play an important part in their 
decision. 

It is admitted that the Monroe doctrine is 
not a part of international law, and it would 
appear from the above, moreover, that it is 
questionable whether the doctrine is applicable 
to the present dispute. It remains to be con- 
sidered whether England is the country of all 
others with whom we should enter upon a war, 
the justice of which is questionable, for the 
establishment of a new principle as a part of 
international law. 

The English-speaking People. 

The spread of the English-speaking people, 
of whom w r e form an important part, is one of 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 41 

the significant facts of the century. It has 
been pointed out that in 1700 there were 
7,000,000 English-speaking people; at the 
beginning of the present century there were 
20,000,000, and to-day we constitute a body 
of 115,000,000. What does this signify? 
Nothing less than the spread of liberal in- 
stitutions, political freedom, humanity and 
enlightenment over a great portion of the 
world. 

If we arrive at the conclusion that it is not 
to our interest to colonize, why should we 
block this movement, so important to civili- 
zation, by checking English colonization ? Re- 
flection will show us that we have many more 
ties with England, France, Germany or Italy 
than we have with the South American re- 
publics. They are building up everything 
that makes the modern world, science, art, 
philosophy, the principles of a broad humanity 
and the science of government. 



42 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

The South American Republics, 

What are the South American republics 
doing in all these walks? They are republics 
in name, but are they democracies in fact? 
The form of government has much to do with 
the happiness of a people, but the adoption. of 
a good form cannot alone give the people a 
good government. Unless a government is so 
fortunate as to possess men enlightened and 
conscientious to a degree above their fellows 
(which is not often the case), it is apt to be 
good or' bad, according as public opinion and 
the attention given to its expression insist or 
not upon its fulfilling its duties. The sense of 
civic duty, like everything else in the moral 
and intellectual world, depends upon environ- 
ment. It is not uncommon to see a law passed 
which is quite in advance of public sentiment 
and which eventually educates public sentiment 
up to its high level ; but generally it is unwise 
to count upon this. Laws will depend for their 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 43 

efficacy upon public support. If they do not 
reach the public conscience, they will do more 
harm than good. The harm is in their non- 
enforcement, which throws discredit upon law 
in general. 

The South American republics are examples 
of admirable laws and institutions applied to 
people wholly unequal to the task of grasping 
their meaning. They may have other ad- 
mirable qualities, but traditions of political 
liberty and a capacity for their exercise do not 
go with the Latin blood. It will require long 
years of practice to acquire them. We know 
how unstable their governments are, to what 
frequent revolutions they are subject, and how 
sadly they are found wanting when measured 
by the standard of international morality. To 
protect them against discipline at the hands of 
European powers means that we must ourselves 
be responsible for their actions, our readiness 
to do which Secretary Olney specifically and 
rightly disclaims. 



44 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

England's Province. 

England is charged with being grasping. In 
its foreign policy a nation should, above all, 
be a trustee — a guardian first of its people's 
honor, and then of their material interests. 
Considerations of general human sympathy and 
theoretic justice may play their part, but always 
subservient to the trusteeship. If a nation 
represents what is best in the world — and every 
nation must, of necessity, believe itself to repre- 
sent the best either in its present state or future 
possibilities — it serves the interests of the world 
at large in extending its own possessions and 
influences by colonization. As commerce, in 
seeking its own ends, has brought about a re- 
vival of Roman law in Europe, and has sup- 
planted savagery with civilization in many 
regions of the world, just so the self-seeking 
of a great nation unconsciously accomplishes 
a great good. England may have been unjust 
to us in our earlier days — even then it was 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 45 

largely party and not the whole people — 
but for many years she has had no other in- 
tention than to treat us as nearest of kin and 
regard us as her friend. Whilst our school 
books, in treating of the Revolution, instil ani- 
mosity toward England in the breast of the 
majority of American children — and, unfor- 
tunately, the mass of the people remain chil- 
dren in this respect — English children are 
taught to respect the spirit of the American 
Revolution, to honor the names of their own 
great statesmen who advocated our cause at the 
time, and to believe that our cause was just. 
They regard the events which brought about 
the American Revolution as a stupid mistake 
on the part of the king and a clique who hap- 
pened to be in power. The people, as a whole, 
have no other than the most friendly regard 
for us. 

When the Monroe doctrine was framed, we 
were so weak that the growth of a foreign 
power on the American continent constituted a 



46 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

menace to us. Truly, no sensible man regards 
it as such to-day. Dispassioned observers must 
admit that we are rapidly becoming the great 
government of the world, and will soon be 
forced to take our place at international coun- 
cils, in spite of our home-keeping policy. We 
are destined to be the peer of all in everything 
that constitutes an enlightened people and an en- 
lightened government. Jealousy should there- 
fore be beneath us. Instead of courting war 
with England, we should accept the invitation 
extended by the members of the English House 
of Commons to form a permanent treaty of 
arbitration, and stand with her before the 
world for all that we both represent in politics, 
religion and morals. Such a union would be 
the most powerful the world has ever seen, and 
make for enlightened progress everywhere. 

Our True Interests. 

Moreover, if we are farseeing, we will not 
block the extension of English colonization in 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 47 

America. In this connection what French 
colonization did for England is significant. 
In India the French conquered an important 
region which eventually fell into the lap of 
England. France paved the way for England 
in Egypt. She was in the Mississippi Valley 
before England, and colonized Canada for her. 
Few doubt that our northern neighbor, by 
mere force of gravity, will in time become 
part of us, and the same would be the tendency 
with respect to English settlements elsewhere 
in America. 

We might accomplish the same end by the 
establishment of a protectorate over the weak 
and more unstable South American countries, 
so that Anglo-Saxons would settle there. It 
is, however, to be questioned whether we have 
as yet sufficiently digested the heterogeneous 
immigration which has been coming to us, and 
whether our sinews are sufficiently formed to 
undertake such a disturbing task. Watch a 
stone which is thrown from a tall cliff, and 



48 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

you will see it drawn into the cliff before it 
reaches the ground below. The same law of 
gravitation will inevitably cause the nation to 
the north of us, allied by blood and tradition, 
to some day knock at the doors of the great 
republic for admission. If the natural process 
is too slow, we might take Canada by force. 
The objection to embodying Mexico, and Cuba 
likewise, on the ground that they are peopled 
by a race with traditions different from our 
own is not a valid one, because if they become 
part of us the emigration from the United 
States and from Anglo-Saxon countries would 
soon give us a preponderance of Anglo-Saxon 
blood in them. If, on the other hand, we 
decide that our policy for the present should 
not be that of expansion and colonization, why 
should we obstruct English expansion either 
in America or elsewhere? This involves dis- 
carding a portion of the Monroe doctrine, 
which, as has been pointed out, is really out 
of date, but leaves to us the nobler and more 



THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 49 

disinterested part of the doctrine, that which 
constitutes us the guardian and propagator 
of liberty in America. 

To Sum Up: 

First. The Monroe doctrine is not at present 
a part of the international law. 

Second. The doctrine is not affected by the 
present controversy. 

Third. To force ourselves into the contro- 
versy and to endeavor to establish the doctrine 
as a part of international law by a war with 
England is more than foolish, and would be a 
wrong to mankind. 

Fourth. A part of the Monroe doctrine has 
lost its usefulness and should be discarded. 

England and America stand for political 
progress in the modern world. All the govern- 
ments in Continental Europe, except .Russia 
and Turkey, are modelled either on the lines of 
the English government or American govern- 
4 



50 THE VENEZUELAN DISPUTE. 

raent. We have together developed political 
liberty, and to enter into war with one another 
would most surely be a blow to civilization. 



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